Creating Your Sewing Sanctuary

Don't panic! Find a space of your very own. Nothing sparks your creativity as much as having a special place to sew with well organized sewing equipment stored within easy reach. Once you have found a place to sew, sewing will become more enjoyable.

Pick a space with several considerations in mind. Most importantly, your space must be accessible to electrical outlets and adequate lighting. In addition, think about the noise factor. Will the sound of your machine distract others? Will the sounds of others distract you?

To simplify the planning of your sewing area and to stimulate your own originality, here are some necessities for sewing conditions:

1. Both natural and artificial lighting is required. You should have an overhead light for basic lighting and a high intensity lamp for making small detailed work easier.

2. Convenient outlets for all your electrical equipment are obvious necessities. An extension cord must be available when needed.

3. You will require a cutting table. The ideal table should be accessible from all 4 sides, hard surfaced. Some may choose to use the floor or kitchen when cutting. Be sure that the surface is clean and flat.

4. Your sewing machine section must be wide enough to enable free movement of your fabric and room to place your utensils.

5. To provide proper back support during stitching, select a comfortable chair with a straight back.

6. To avoid wasting valuable time in searching for a needed item, organize a storage system of rollout drawers.

7. A box or tote bag to move equipment from one work area to another can be another time-saver.

8. A large storage area will be needed. This way, large pieces of fabric or incomplete projects can lie flat.

9. A pressing area near your machine and storage space is essential.

10. Supply closet space for hanging nearly finished projects and clothes that need repairing.

11. Have a full-length mirror near ample lighting for viewing your garments. The 3-way variety above the mirror is ideal, especially for fittings.

12. For a cheerful atmosphere, choose a soft color with bright accents.

13. To keep your lovely area neat, place a wastebasket under the machine area and near the cutting table.

Try to combine your wishes with the ideas mentioned above to create your very own sewing space. Whether it's just a corner of a room, your originality can make it a warm haven for producing several of fashionable masterpieces. Don't constraint your shopping to the sewing notions counters. Browse in every department to complete your dream of a sewing sanctuary. Anything to which you devote so much of your time deserves to have special considerations.

By Kashopae Evans

What Do You Do If You "Find a Strad?"

A Stradivarius Violin in Your Attic? How to Know.

It would be a great shock to the world of fine stringed instruments if a lost violin from a great Italian luthier turned up. Many imitations were made 100 years ago.

It is not unusual to come across a violin in someone's attic, at a flea market or any other such corners of life where forgotten items surface. Sometimes the condition of the instrument makes it obvious that a student long ago abandoned the instrument when other pursuits just took over. Other times, the condition of the instrument or its case or something known about the owner - an eccentric uncle with some money, perhaps - lend the situation a bit of excitement.

Could it be? Is it possible? This excitement is heightened even further when a name, presumably of its maker, is on a label or stamped inside the f-hole of the instrument, on the back plate. There it is! It says "Stradivarius"!

Alas, there are many violins that were made toward the end of the Victorian era, in the late 19th century, that were falsely labeled with the names of the fabled great luthiers: Stradivari, Stainer, Guarnerius, Amati or Maggini among them. They were considered of a "student" level of quality at the time, and the ruse of their violin shops was less a lie than homage: the makers were saying the violins were made in the same style or to approximate the physical specifications of the great Italian violinmakers of the earlier era.

Recently, the excitement around the dollar value of antique violins (and violas and cellos) rose considerably, and raised controversy, when Chicago rare violin dealer Jeff Fushi placed the 269-year-old "Vieuxtemps" Guarneri del Gesu up for sale for $18 million in 2010. At last check it has yet to sell, but it illustrates what has happened with rare violins. Over the past 50 years, their value has appreciated 26,000 percent (compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which in the same time period has risen a mere 1,400 percent). Indeed, the problem has now arisen that only millionaires and billionaires can afford them. At best, the instruments are loaned to great contemporary players, concertmasters and soloists with the world's top orchestras. Otherwise, they are held as precious investments, perhaps seen by a rarefied group but only infrequently heard.

There are less than one thousand instruments by Guarneri and Stradivari in existence, and the discovery of a lost stringed instrument found by these or other great makers would be exceedingly rare. If you find one of the 19th century imitations, expect its value to be under $1500 (with a few exceptions) and that to restore it to playable condition could easily cost as much money or more. But do not be embarrassed about asking a professional in a shop for fine violins to look at it - they are accustomed to these requests, and are responsible to all ends of the market to encourage a love of violins (and violin playing) while providing a realistic assessment and encouragement. Even the fake "Strads" were once made, sold and purchased with intent to create beautiful music.

By Nathan Weiss 

Singing Success? Reviews And Ideas To Hone Your Voice

Everyone is gifted with talents such as singing, dancing and even acting. Some individuals may even have numerous talents that can be used to their advantage. These talents can also help individuals open new opportunities to make their future better. As an individual, gifted with talent, it is best to hone your skills.

When it comes to singing, not everyone has a wonderful voice. Individuals with charming and harmonious voice will have the advantage when it comes to singing. Because of persistence and determination, they can achieve singing success. Reviews and ideas are listed below to help you hone your voice.

Get rid of bad habits - Smoking, drinking and even other bad habits may affect your voice. Therefore, it is best to get rid of such routine. By removing

these routines in your daily life, you can be sure that you can protect your vocal chords from factors that may ruin it. It is also essential to have a healthy diet and body to ensure that you can improve your skills.

Invest in time and effort - Even if you have a lovely voice that can serenade thousands of people, it is still important to invest time and effort to practice. As the saying goes, "practice makes perfect." So, as an aspiring singer in karaoke bars or a performer on the stage, you need to spend sufficient time practicing to further improve the quality of your voice. You also need to exert effort to improve your skills rather than being satisfied with what you have. With this, you can be on top of the competition. Another way to improve is to look for vocal exercises and routines that will allow you to warm your vocal chords before singing.

Opt for singing lessons - Most artists these days also sign up for singing or voice lessons. This is needed to help you learn the best practices when singing. Singing lessons can also help you ensure that you can enjoy other singing exercises such as diaphragm breathing techniques, vocal tone and pitch training, resonance and strength training, and even agility and flexibility. However, before signing up for singing lessons, you need to look for a reputable school to help you achieve your goal. Reviews from experts can be a good option to find the best school. This can help you determine the effectiveness and quality of teaching that you need. Reviews can also help you evaluate singing lesson providers.

By Amanda W Williams

Increasing Passion

In order to have a passionate relationship in the bedroom, it is important to establish adult - adult relating patterns. When people start wagging their fingers at their partners, telling their partners how to think, feel or behave they have moved into a parent - child style of relating. The parent - child style of relating is not sexy and tends to dampen rather than excite libido.

True passion involves vulnerability - completely surrendering to each other and to the moment. It is difficult for a couple to feel open and vulnerable when they have been bickering. If a husband or wife feels like they have to pick up after and take care of their partner like one of the children, how likely are they to be breathlessly waiting to roll into bed with their partner? The same question applies, if a partner feels that they are being treated like a child?

Increasing passion can be a challenge in committed relationships. Carefully and honestly examine your behavior in your relationship. Are there times when you behave more like a parent or a child than a mature adult?

• Do you lecture or scold your partner?
• Do you whine and complain to or about your partner?
• Do you demand that you get your way, now?
• Do you take responsibility for things that should be your partner's responsibility?
• Do you have temper tantrums or volatile reactions to criticism?

The more couples approach their relationships as two mature adults, the more they will be willing and able to be vulnerable with each other. Emotional maturity allows partners to approach the bedroom in ways that enhance, rather than erode their love life. Emotionally mature couples are more likely to feel aroused by their partner and have a satisfying love life.

When partners are emotionally mature they are more able to be fully present during lovemaking. They are more open to being creative, adventurous and respectfully enjoying one another. They are willing to share what they enjoy and happy to learn about their partner's preferences, wants and desires.

Mature partners can easily accept and respect when their partner chooses to say "no" or is uninterested in sex. They do not assume that this means there is something wrong with them or the relationship or that their partner does not love them. To them, sex is something to be enjoyed by choice not out of duty or obligation. They recognize that obligatory sex is one sure way to dampen libido.

Emotionally mature couples are secure in themselves. They are able to be vulnerable and to easily express and receive love. They are considerate and empathetic and are willing to make sacrifices for each other.

Increased awareness of those times that you may slip into the parent - child, rather than adult - adult relating style, will increase your ability to make a different choice. As you increase the maturity of your interactions with each other, you may also notice increased heat in the bedroom.

By: Susan Derry

What Is Sanctuary to You?

Home, church, a place of protection, a Scottish croft, a Jewish schtel, a snow cave, a grain basket, a hotel, a beekeepers farm, a mountain retreat-all have been sanctuaries to different characters both fictional and real.

Deborah, a leasing agent, said her sanctuary is her home. "Home is a place where you take your faith, where you have your retreat. It's peace, comfort, safety, and security," she affirmed.

An apartment resident, a former Chicagoan, showed no hesitation in his choice: the Church and worship. He was adamant in his rejection of any other connotation.

Another resident, a young loquacious Indian wife named Sumi defines sanctuary as "anyplace that makes me feel good: a waterfall, a swimming pool, a place with people I feel safe with."

To a retired minister and his organist-wife, sanctuary is found in their religious faith, practiced not only in various churches but also in their everyday generosity as exemplified in their volunteer work and providing transportation to individuals without means of travel.

To my father it was escape to a fresh-water fishing camp where he could withdraw from the cares of business and family. It wasn't in catching a quantity of fish so much as it was in the quietness, the closeness to nature,
the hypnotic aura of a flat-bottom boat rocking gently in a river's current or on a lake's rippling surface.

In one of his literary works, Mrs. Warren's Profession, British satirist playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote that a hotel is a kind of sanctuary from the incessant demands of home life-the opposite of the leasing agent's acknowledgment of home as a sanctuary.

Hamish Macbeth, the lovable, crime-solving, totally unambitious Scottish bobby of M. C. Beaton's mystery series, finds sanctuary in the serene Highlands village of Lochdubh and, more specifically, in his humble police station and simple croft.

For the Jewish boy Reuven and his baby sister Rachel in Kathryn Lasky's Broken Song, a novel set in tsarist Russia, sanctuary is found, in turn, in violin music, especially Dvorak's classics; in a grain basket; and a snow cave. After their beloved schtel, a small village, is destroyed by brutal Cossack troops, the brother and sister alone escape.

Poet Emily Dickinson found her sanctuary, if you will, as a recluse in her own home, from which she created some of the world's immortal, terse poetic masterpieces on subjects that ranged from heaven, dying, and hope to nature, wine, and art.

For 14-year-old Lily Owens in Sue Monk Kidd's bestseller The Secret Lives of Bees sanctuary from an abusive father becomes a beekeeping farm in Tuburon, South Carolina with three black sisters, each with names based on the months of the year. Lily and her runaway black nanny find refuge and new life learning beekeeping and honey-making and soaking in the kindness and wisdom of August, the oldest of the three industrious sisters. Lily also learns about her deceased mother's past in this same sanctuary.

All creatures seek some form of sanctuary. Not all find it. A mother found such refuge forever eluding her desperate grasp. For 92 years she spent her long, tumultuous life trying to reconcile so many disparities involving her parents, nursing an ailing spouse, curbing the over-zealous behavior of two sons, struggling with ailments of her own, managing a business-ever struggling to balance her needs and the needs of others. If she did find a kind of refuge, it was a dubious one: doctor-prescribed medications for both physical and mental illnesses. She passed away in a nursing home. Bipolar drugs that would have tempered the extremes of her mood swings still awaited

Copeland is the author of The Patient Quest, a novella available Print-on-Demand, and four books published electronically by Kindle. He has been a teacher, journalist, editor, outside book sales manager, and special events coordinator for a large book chain. His e-mail address is copelandharry@charter.net. He has two grown children and three grandchildren. Copeland currently resides in Lawrenceville, Georgia, near Atlanta. The author welcomes feedback.

By Harry C Copeland